


They’d find us in a week

by pipedreammuse



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:41:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25738213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipedreammuse/pseuds/pipedreammuse
Summary: Neil Josten hasn’t stayed in one spot longer than two months since his mom died. When he broke into a random house in South Carolina, he wasn’t expecting anything to come of it. Unfortunately for him, he finds a reason to stay in one place for a little longer.
Relationships: Kevin Day & Neil Josten, Matt Boyd/Danielle "Dan" Wilds, Neil Josten & The Foxes (All For The Game), Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

Neil knew he should have run the second he buried his mother’s bones but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the beach. It didn’t feel real yet, his mother being dead. They had been running for seven years together and Neil honestly didn’t know what he would do without her. She was the one constant in his life and now she was gone. What would he do without her? Kneeling in front of her makeshift grave, Neil let the tears fall down his face and hit the sand.

It was hours before he stood. If his mother was here, she would have gotten them two states over from California by now. She would have yelled at him for being so careless by staying. His father had just killed her and there were people following them down from Seattle. Neil had to keep running, had to keep going without her. Running was the only way to stay alive. He grabbed his duffel bag with his few belongings and the new identification papers from Seattle and started walking down the beach.

Neil was in Millport, Arizona a week later.

* * *

Millport was a sleepy little town with most of its population being over 45 years old. Everyone knew each other and nothing ever really happened. That’s why when anything changed, like someone new moving to town, everyone was sure to talk about it. This was the main reasoning behind Neil’s choice to hide out there for a while. If any of his father’s people came looking for him, he would hear about it.

Neil was only in the town for two months before the residents started whispering about a blonde woman with ruby lips. Lola had caught up to him. _She’s searching for her son_ , the people of Millport murmured. _And doesn’t that one boy sound like who she’s describing?_

Neil was gone the next day.

It continued to happen for a year. Neil would stay in a small town for a month or two until Lola or her brother Romero caught up to him. It only took a month or two for them to catch up. They were the ones who worked the closest with his father, part of his inner circle. They were the ones trusted to find Neil.

Currently, Neil was in South Carolina, having hitchhiked his way there from Idaho about three days earlier.

Neil was walking on a fairly busy street when he was roughly shoved into an alleyway. The man who pulled him in was taller than Neil, probably about 5’10, with a scruffy beard and a knife in hand. Neil didn’t recognize him, which meant his father had either sent new people to follow him or this was a completely random guy who thought Neil looked like a good person to mug. With how dirty the man’s clothes were, Neil was leaning towards the second theory.

“Give me all your money or I’ll kill you,” the man said, waving his knife towards Neil’s chest. He wasn’t even holding the knife correctly, so Neil doubted he would even be able to do any real damage with it.

Neil’s instincts kicked in. He had been trained with a knife for eight years by his father and Lola. He knew how to disarm someone in at least 50 different ways. He knew how to kill someone in so many more. Taking the knife being waved at him was easy. Neil took a step closer, squeezed the man’s wrist hard enough for him to let go of the knife, and caught the knife before the man could blink.

“I think I’ll keep my money, thanks.” Neil could feel a terrible smile form on his face, the same smile as his father. “In fact, I think I’ll keep this knife too. You weren’t using it correctly anyway.”

The man ran off as soon as Neil stopped talking. Neil watched him turn the corner before looking away. He dragged his thumb across his mouth to wipe the smile off his face and looked down at the knife. He really didn’t want to keep it but he didn’t know what else to do with it. Tucking it into his duffel bag, he turned back out of the alleyway and started looking for a nearby neighborhood to find a place to spend the night.

It was dark by the time he found a decent neighborhood. Decent meaning not too rich, not too many houses tightly grouped together, and not much traffic going through. He just had to wait to make sure no one was in one of the houses.

The house he was watching had no car in the driveway and all the lights were out. The lawn was overgrown and unkept. It definitely seemed promising but it was still fairly early in the night, he’d break in if it was still empty by midnight. In the meantime, he pulled out his binder to check his stash of money.

Everything was in order and back in his bag by the time midnight finally came around. Neil looked around to make sure there were no witnesses before running across the street and hopping the fence to the backyard in one quiet move. 

The house had a backdoor with a simple lock and Neil picked it in three seconds. The house owners really needed to up their security if they wanted to keep people out. Neil walked in noiselessly and looked around after his eyes got adjusted to the dark house.

There was a thin layer of dust over the countertops, another good sign that no one would just come walking in at any second. Neil was still on guard despite all the promising signs. He walked further into the house and checked every room for exits he could use before walking back to the den and settling in one of the recliners. It had a good view of the hallway and was close to a window in case he needed a quick escape. He made sure his duffel was strapped across his chest and reluctantly placed the knife next to his thigh. He closed his eyes, falling asleep a few moments later.

The sound of a door unlocking had Neil moving towards the window before he could register what was happening. Fuck. The owners of the house were home. Neil opened the window and was halfway out when he heard voices just down the hall.

“Kev, I can't believe you actually danced with me! Those hips! You know, me and Erik have this list…”

Neil climbed out the window before he could hear the rest. He moved out of sight and waited. When no one came to the window, he crouched and started walking past the porch. He made it about two steps past before he was tackled to the ground. Him and the person that hit him landed hard, knocking the breath out of Neil. He was rolled over to his back and shut his eyes as the person who tackled him held him down.

“Who the fuck are you and why were you in our house?”

Neil opened his eyes when he was shaken roughly. A college-aged guy with blond hair and hazel eyes was glaring down at him. 

“I asked you a question,” the man said, reaching towards his wrist. Neil could see the faint outlines of knives in his sleeves.

“I was just trying to sleep in there for a few hours. If you let me go, I won’t come back.”

“Hmm. You know, I don’t think I’ll do that. Better luck next time!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil meets the Monsters and is offered a chance.

Neil was sitting in the kitchen. Andrew, the guy who tackled him, was sitting across from him and right in front of the back door.

The other people in the house were nowhere to be seen. Neil was being questioned, so he supposed it was fair that only one person was down with him. He had broken into their house, after all. They had absolutely no reason to trust him. For all they knew, he could be a murderer looking for his next victims. He _had_ actually killed people before, but it was totally self-defense. That didn’t make him an actual murderer, right?

Andrew watched Neil closely. He hadn’t asked anything yet, so if this was some sort of interrogation, it wasn’t going very well.

“Aren’t you supposed to be questioning me?”

Andrew raised an eyebrow. “I will. I just don’t want to start until everyone gets here.”

“There are more people coming?” Neil barely kept the worry out of his voice. More people could mean the police and Neil didn’t want to deal with any cops.

“Unfortunately. It appears one of the hungover wrecks upstairs wanted to call a more capable adult to figure out what to do with you. They’ll be here in about an hour. Get comfortable, little rabbit. You won’t be going anywhere soon.”

Neil passed the next hour by perfecting his tragic backstory for Neil Josten. He was 18. He was trying to get to Maine to see his grandmother but he didn’t have a car or any money. His parents were divorced. The mom was in Maine with the grandmother, the dad was in Texas. Why was he traveling across the country by himself? Neil was trying to surprise his mom and didn’t think it would be hard to get there. You’re right, he should just call his mom to explain to her what he was doing and ask her to pick him up. Why didn’t he think of that sooner?

It was a fairly easy lie to come up with. Now it was just a matter of selling it well enough for the strangers to back off and let him leave.

There was still about twenty minutes until the new people were supposed to show up, and Neil used that time to watch Andrew. Andrew was wearing all black, from his sweatshirt to his heavy combat boots. If you looked closely, you could see the faint outline of knives where his sleeves were tight against his forearms. He wore a bored expression but he was carefully watching Neil. He was shorter than Neil by a few inches, putting him at around 5 feet tall, but he had enough muscle where anyone else would probably be intimidated.

Neil was watching Andrew inspect the chipped paint on his nails when the front door opened. The door was at his back, instantly putting Neil on edge again.

“Nicky told us to just come in when we got here,” a gruff voice called down the hallway. Neil looked over his shoulder to watch a man old enough to be his father walk in. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed, his clothes wrinkled and his hair messy. His appearance didn’t make him any less intimidating to Neil, who had seen his father look relaxed and comfortable before killing a man.

“He said you would be in the kitchen, but where are the others?” A woman appeared behind the man still standing in the doorway. She seemed more awake and cautious as she spoke to Andrew. 

“They’re sleeping upstairs. This is who Nicky apparently thought you should meet. He was leaving out the window right as we were coming home! Isn’t that right, Neil?”

Neil looked between Andrew and the strangers in the doorway. “I really meant no trouble, I was just trying to find somewhere to sleep for the night. If you let me leave, I’ll be gone within an hour.”

“Oh, rabbit. Looking to run off so soon? What do you think, Coach? Should we let the runaway go or report him to the pigs?” Andrew grinned.

The man in the doorway stepped towards Neil and a flinch carved its way through Neil before he could stop it. It wasn’t the stranger’s fault, Neil just didn’t easily trust any man his father’s age.

The man paused where he was when he saw Neil flinch. “I’m David Wymack and this is Abby Winfield. I’m the coach of Palmetto State’s exy team and Abby is the team nurse. You’re Neil, right?”

“Yeah. Neil Josten.”

“Okay, Neil. I don’t want to get involved with the cops unless I have to, so let’s get that option off the table. Do you have anywhere to go?”

Neil considered telling his lie about his sick grandmother, but his brain was focused on one thing. David was the coach of an exy team. He hadn’t played exy since he was a kid, but he had been following it since then, wishing he could play again. His mother had never let him watch any games while they were on the run but Neil had been keeping up through news stations while his mother was busy, sports magazines, anything exy related that he could get his hands on without his mother noticing. Exy was everything to him when he was younger and able to play. 

Neil hesitated too long to answer and the coach’s brows furrowed. “Look, kid. What can I do to help you?”

“I’m fine. I don’t need your help,” Neil said. “I should really be leaving now.”

“Considering you broke into a house just to sleep, I think you do. Now answer a few questions for me. Did you finish high school?”

“Yes.” Neil had gotten his diploma and it wasn’t even forged. He had to go to three different high schools for his senior year, the last in Millport, but he had gotten a diploma somehow.

“That’s good. Do you know anything about exy?”

“I used to play as a kid, but I haven’t played since I was ten.”

“How would you feel about going to college? If you don’t have any interest then we can find you a job as a janitor or an assistant coach, either would give you a place to stay and a decent amount of money to get you back on your feet. Or if you’re interested in college, we can find a way for you to go. If you’re willing to play exy again, we can sign you on as a sub until you get better and get you a scholarship for playing exy. That would get you a place to stay, a degree, and something to do.”

“Really?” Neil asked. He couldn’t understand how this coach was so willing to help him out.

“I’m a firm believer in second chances, Neil. You’re no exception to that. You can decide by tonight, if you want. That way we can go back to the stadium and see how you play before you make any decisions.”

Neil knew he should say no. Exy would immediately draw Lola and his father right to him. But the only thing he ever wanted was to play exy. How could he say no to the one real chance he got at doing something that made him feel real? He would die happy if he got to play exy for a month. The least he could do was go to the stadium with the coach and see if he was willing to put his life on the line for the sport.

“Okay,” Neil said.

Wymack nodded and turned to Andrew. “Should we get breakfast going and wake up everyone else at dawn?”

Andrew hummed in agreement and waved a hand loosely in the air.

Abby and Wymack took over the kitchen to make breakfast, so Neil and Andrew retreated to the living room. They sat in silence for a few minutes, sitting at opposite ends of the couch, watching each other before Andrew finally looked away from Neil to turn on a house renovation show. The volume was low, the speaking on the show very monotonous, and Neil was falling asleep before he realized what was happening.

Something hit Neil’s stomach and woke him from his nap. He threw it off and reached for his knife before realizing he didn’t have it. His heart rate picked up and he bolted across the room to put a wall at his back before realizing that it was his bag that hit him. He stared at the bag and counted to ten before moving back to the couch to grab it. Andrew was watching him from the doorway. 

“Interesting,” Andrew said, before leaving Neil alone in the den.

Neil grabbed his bag and went through it quickly. Everything appeared in order, but he’d have to check again later to make sure. He quickly got up and followed Andrew into the busy kitchen. Everyone was awake and trying to get breakfast. Wymack and Abby were already sat at the table with their food, and Andrew was shoving three other people to get to the bacon. The three were also college-aged, two taller and one shorter than Neil. Upon a closer look, the shorter one looked like Andrew. Exactly like Andrew.

“What the fuck?”

Everyone turned to look at Neil and he belatedly realized he’d spoken too loud. The three people Neil hadn’t been introduced to yet started talking all at once.

“Andrew, you didn’t say he was cute!”

”Who the hell is this?”

”Can you really play exy?”

Overwhelmed, Neil took a step back. He looked between the three and froze when he saw a face he recognized.

Kevin Day.

The same Kevin Day that Neil had met when he was ten, right before he had left with his mother and started running. The same Kevin Day that had watched Neil’s father cut up a man in front of them. If Kevin recognized him, Neil was a dead man much faster than he expected.

“Well? Can you play?” Kevin asked, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter.

“We’ll find out later. Let’s not annoy the kid before he eats,” Wymack replied before Neil got the chance. “Neil, get some food and sit down.”

“Yes, sir.” Neil reluctantly walked over to the counter where the food was and grabbed a plate. He hadn’t eaten much in a few days, but he didn’t want to seem like he hadn’t eaten recently. But it was a pointless attempt, Neil could tell that the coach saw right through him.

“Call me Coach.”

They all finished getting their food and sat down to eat. A soft conversation started between Abby and Kevin but no one started to ask Neil any questions, letting him eat in peace. The pancakes were too sweet, but Neil was hungry enough that he didn’t care what he was eating. There must have been a rule not to talk to Neil while he ate because as soon as he finished, Kevin tried asking him about exy again.

“Kevin! Let Neil have a break before you give him one of your exy lectures.” The grinning hispanic man turned to Neil, resting his chin in his hand. “I just realized we never introduced ourselves, did we? I’m Nicky, I’m cousins with Aaron and Andrew. Good luck telling those two apart, half the team still gets them confused at times, just know that Andrew is the one with the knives. This gorgeous exy maniac is Kevin Day, you’ve probably heard of him. I know–”

Wymack cut Nicky off with a sigh. “We can tell Neil more on the way to the court, let’s get headed over there soon.”

Nicky pouted dramatically but stood up to help clean up the kitchen. Everyone finished eating and joined Nicky with cleaning so they could leave. Neil took care of his plate but stood back otherwise, not wanting to get in the way or get too close to anyone. With six people in the kitchen, the mess got cleared quickly and everyone was ready to head out five minutes later. 

“Coach, Neil’s riding with us back,” Andrew said, walking over to a sleek black car. Wymack raised an eyebrow at that, but shrugged.

“Don't hurt him. You better be there before me and Abby, I know you assholes don’t obey traffic laws. If you’re not there before I am, I’ll sign all four of you up for a marathon next week.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll meet you there.” Andrew waved at the coach before shoving Neil at the backseat. Nicky waved to Neil from the driver’s seat as Andrew pushed Neil to the center, sandwiched between Aaron and Andrew. Neil didn’t like being surrounded in the car, but that was probably Andrew’s intent. They all buckled up and left before Wymack even turned his car on. 


End file.
